• Hello!

    Either you have not registered on this site yet, or you are registered but have not logged in. In either case, you will not be able to use the full functionality of this site until you have registered, and then logged in after your registration has been approved.

    Registration is FREE, so please register so you can participate instead of remaining a lurker....

    Please be certain that the location field is correctly filled out when you register. All registrations that appear to be bogus will be rejected. Which means that if your location field does NOT match the actual location of your registration IP address, then your registration will be rejected.

    Sorry about the strictness of this requirement, but it is necessary to block spammers and scammers at the door as much as possible.

So Im having baby feeding problems

smale492

New member
I asked for help on reddit and explained my situation (below)

(So I got a baby that was born on july 29th. I got it about 2 weeks ago and have tried feeding him to no avail. The most recent feeding was last night I left him in a tub with a XS pinkie because he himself is quiet small. (I gave time before feedings btw like 4-5 days rest to minimize stress). I was wondering if I can get any tips. I am thinking about assist feeding him a pinkie head saturday just to see if he will keep it down. Any advice with this or any videos for assist feeding tips would be much appreciated. Thanks!)

The person told me I should not be taking my snake out of his tank and to feed him underneath one of his hides.. and he will eat.. is this good advice or should I try and assist feed? Or are there any other tips PLEASE any help is apprecaited.
 
I've been lurking on your posts for a little, but I'm not recalling specifics being addressed...also super tired, having gone to bed at 4am and woke at 7:45.

So before we entertain the idea of assist feeding, and before we proceed any farther on feedings, let's get some details ironed out.

  1. What size cage are you using?
  2. What is your setup like...
    • Do you have multiple hides?
    • Is there a water bowl large enough for soaking?
    • What substrate are you using?
  3. What are you using to measure temperatures? Simple analog thermometer or digital/laser thermometer
  4. Any lights on the cage?
  5. What are you using the heat the cage and where is this placed?
  6. Exactly when did you purchase the snake?
  7. You mentioned contacting the shop you purchased from...Have you? Specifically, did you ask when this exact snake last ate and were they offering live of frozen/thawed mice?
You may have already addressed these details, but let's keep everything to 1 thread. We'll start with it here. Let's get these details answered first, then we'll proceed some more...
 
I've been lurking on your posts for a little, but I'm not recalling specifics being addressed...also super tired, having gone to bed at 4am and woke at 7:45.

So before we entertain the idea of assist feeding, and before we proceed any farther on feedings, let's get some details ironed out.

  1. What size cage are you using?
  2. What is your setup like...
    • Do you have multiple hides?
    • Is there a water bowl large enough for soaking?
    • What substrate are you using?
  3. What are you using to measure temperatures? Simple analog thermometer or digital/laser thermometer
  4. Any lights on the cage?
  5. What are you using the heat the cage and where is this placed?
  6. Exactly when did you purchase the snake?
  7. You mentioned contacting the shop you purchased from...Have you? Specifically, did you ask when this exact snake last ate and were they offering live of frozen/thawed mice?
You may have already addressed these details, but let's keep everything to 1 thread. We'll start with it here. Let's get these details answered first, then we'll proceed some more...


1. The Size of my tank is 20 gallons (long)
2. My Setup consists of 1 hide on the warm side one hide in the middle of the tank and one hide on the cold side where the water bowl is. (water bowl is easily large enough for him to sit in fully) The substrate I am using is aspen.
3. I have 2 digital thermometers on both sides of the tanks and use a jumpstart themostat for the heat pad on the warm side.
4.There are no lights for the tank
5. I am using a heat pad to heat the tanks warmside and it is on my dresser in my room.
6. I purchased the snake either on August 8-9th and my snake showed up on the 10th. The day the breeder claims it hatched was on july 29th.
7. I did contact them and they only gave me vague responses like "we feed on wednesdays" and they "claim they fed it" and they said that they feed xs pinkies (thawed) in delie cups at night (which I just tried to the success)
 
Everything looks good. Cage could be argued to be too large, and though I'd agree to that I'd also disagree. since you're setup as described, I'm going to assume your temps are appropriate.

So you're dealing with possibly what's known as OOE, or out-of-egg. Hatched on the 29th and arrived on the 10th is only 12 days. I, personally, won't sell hatchling snakes that haven't eaten at least 5 times. I prefer 10 meals, much like when I used to breed hognose snakes. It hatched on July 29th, it should have had its first shed around Aug 3 to Aug 5. First meal can generally be attempted around this time as the baby has probably also had its first defecation as a result of this shed.

What I'm getting at is though possible it's highly suspect that this snake has eaten or even eaten multiple times before you obtained it. DO NOT fret over this.

In your other threads, you've been linked to Nanci's problem feeder how-to, as well as Nanci posting an assist feed video. At almost a month old, it is still very plausible that your young one is "feeding" off of yolk reserves from when it was still in egg just before it hatched.

If it were me, I would try leaving the snake alone for a week. No handling, nothing. I know you mentioned going to school too...

From being shipped up until now it seems wee one has had a lot of attention and this could be a huge driving factor in it not eating. In giving it a week of no attention (other than water), pick a day that is best for you and that will be your feed day. This could be Wednesday, or any of the other 6 days in the week.

I agree with the reddit poster!!! Most people prefer to feed in a separate feeding cage. When I'm getting new ones first started on feeding I too feed outside of cage. Once I've got 3 meals into my hatchlings I then start offering to them within their cage. Out of over 50 corns and a number of other snake species, I only have 2 snakes that are cage aggressive from feeding in cage - a green tree python and a cal king. In your case, feeding in cage may allow the snake to feel much more secure. But you are also dealing with 20 gallons of floor space, plenty of room for hiding and not facing pinkie.

If you opt to still feed out of cage, do so in a warm area for starters. Before hand, go to your nearest grocery store and see if the deli counter will give you a 16 oz deli cup. They are about 3 inches tall by 5 inches in diameter...roughly off top of me head.

Armed with this deli cup, find a small dark box or other solid-colored container that will fit the deli cup. The idea here is a makeshift hide. Next, get a piece of regular 8.5 x 11 paper. This will be the lid to our makeshift hide.

Assuming you have some frozen small pinkies on hand, thaw the smallest 1 out. Next, if you live at home mom/dad are about to love you... in a small pot boil about a cup of water. While waiting for water to boil, place the snake into the deli cup, deli cup into box, and cover box with piece of paper. Using a strainer, place pinkie into it and once water is boiling, pour CAREFULLY the boiling water over the pinkie. You're only going to pour enough to cause a slight color change to the pinkie - you don't want to cook the entire pinkie! You won't need the whole cup of water to accomplish this.

Pat the pinkie mostly dry with a paper towel. I do this with gloves on to avoid any of my scent on the pinkie. Next use tweezers to remove the pinkie off paper towel and place into the deli cup with the snake.

For the first 2 hours, check every 20-30 minutes ONLY by lifting the piece of paper up enough to see if the pinkie is still in the deli cup or if it's been consumed. If consumed, congrats! If not, leave everything set up and undisturbed. Keep checking every 20-30 minutes. If nothing after 3-4 hours, stop checking and let the snake and pinkie become buddies overnight. Hopefully it ate overnight, if not repeat this in 5 days.

If it's still refusing to eat, then I'd start working my way down Nanci's problem feeder page.
 
Everything looks good. Cage could be argued to be too large, and though I'd agree to that I'd also disagree. since you're setup as described, I'm going to assume your temps are appropriate.

So you're dealing with possibly what's known as OOE, or out-of-egg. Hatched on the 29th and arrived on the 10th is only 12 days. I, personally, won't sell hatchling snakes that haven't eaten at least 5 times. I prefer 10 meals, much like when I used to breed hognose snakes. It hatched on July 29th, it should have had its first shed around Aug 3 to Aug 5. First meal can generally be attempted around this time as the baby has probably also had its first defecation as a result of this shed.

What I'm getting at is though possible it's highly suspect that this snake has eaten or even eaten multiple times before you obtained it. DO NOT fret over this.



In your other threads, you've been linked to Nanci's problem feeder how-to, as well as Nanci posting an assist feed video. At almost a month old, it is still very plausible that your young one is "feeding" off of yolk reserves from when it was still in egg just before it hatched.

If it were me, I would try leaving the snake alone for a week. No handling, nothing. I know you mentioned going to school too...

From being shipped up until now it seems wee one has had a lot of attention and this could be a huge driving factor in it not eating. In giving it a week of no attention (other than water), pick a day that is best for you and that will be your feed day. This could be Wednesday, or any of the other 6 days in the week.

I agree with the reddit poster!!! Most people prefer to feed in a separate feeding cage. When I'm getting new ones first started on feeding I too feed outside of cage. Once I've got 3 meals into my hatchlings I then start offering to them within their cage. Out of over 50 corns and a number of other snake species, I only have 2 snakes that are cage aggressive from feeding in cage - a green tree python and a cal king. In your case, feeding in cage may allow the snake to feel much more secure. But you are also dealing with 20 gallons of floor space, plenty of room for hiding and not facing pinkie.

If you opt to still feed out of cage, do so in a warm area for starters. Before hand, go to your nearest grocery store and see if the deli counter will give you a 16 oz deli cup. They are about 3 inches tall by 5 inches in diameter...roughly off top of me head.

Armed with this deli cup, find a small dark box or other solid-colored container that will fit the deli cup. The idea here is a makeshift hide. Next, get a piece of regular 8.5 x 11 paper. This will be the lid to our makeshift hide.

Assuming you have some frozen small pinkies on hand, thaw the smallest 1 out. Next, if you live at home mom/dad are about to love you... in a small pot boil about a cup of water. While waiting for water to boil, place the snake into the deli cup, deli cup into box, and cover box with piece of paper. Using a strainer, place pinkie into it and once water is boiling, pour CAREFULLY the boiling water over the pinkie. You're only going to pour enough to cause a slight color change to the pinkie - you don't want to cook the entire pinkie! You won't need the whole cup of water to accomplish this.

Pat the pinkie mostly dry with a paper towel. I do this with gloves on to avoid any of my scent on the pinkie. Next use tweezers to remove the pinkie off paper towel and place into the deli cup with the snake.

For the first 2 hours, check every 20-30 minutes ONLY by lifting the piece of paper up enough to see if the pinkie is still in the deli cup or if it's been consumed. If consumed, congrats! If not, leave everything set up and undisturbed. Keep checking every 20-30 minutes. If nothing after 3-4 hours, stop checking and let the snake and pinkie become buddies overnight. Hopefully it ate overnight, if not repeat this in 5 days.

If it's still refusing to eat, then I'd start working my way down Nanci's problem feeder page.

Thanks for the help! I have hear that some people who do the deli cup/ box method they put the box back in the tank (though I dont think a shoe box I would us would fit). I was thinking about feeding on saturdays but I am worried about waiting till next saturday for the poor little guy (I dont want him to starve since he has never had a meal most likely). Any advice if I should try your advice on sooner date or would giving him that much time make him more calm especially after the move on monday. (I will not and have not been handling untill his next feeding attempt)
 
Your question would best be answered with this question...

Without putting the little one under too much stress, do you think you can get a good photo of it? Any one of us lurking/replying to your posts could then easily tell how far along the snake is and make a suggestion from there.

The key is a good, clear photo that can show the overall condition of the snake.
 
Your question would best be answered with this question...

Without putting the little one under too much stress, do you think you can get a good photo of it? Any one of us lurking/replying to your posts could then easily tell how far along the snake is and make a suggestion from there.

The key is a good, clear photo that can show the overall condition of the snake.

I only have this picture of him when I first got him since I dont really take him out besides to feed and he is always exploring around and its hard to get no lens flare from the glass I can try again later when he comes out if he does today.
https://imgur.com/cl69FSX
 
Hiya HerpsOfNM. How ya been?

I just wanted to thank you for the awesome advice you gave to smale492 on how to feed a boiled pinky. It's detailed, precise, and a step-by-step HOW TO which is GREAT for dummies like ME! (Not suggesting anyone is an idiot, so pls don't personalize).

From reading your instructions, I realized that I'm probably over-cooking the pinky by immersing it in boiling water for even a short time. Thanx for clarifying that the water should be poured OVER the pinky and although Nanci probably meant this, I sometimes need practical advice (I've said numerous times that I am not the BRIGHTEST bulb on the MARQUEE!!!).

In any case, I hope it all works out for smale492. I'm still working on 3 stubborn little non-eaters that hatched out the week of 7/11 (YIKES!!!). If you've followed any of my prior threads on my little sneaky one (Lilly), then you'll know that there were probably some extenuating circumstances to her situation, as she laid the first clutch under enormous stress and maybe even laid these eggs somewhat prematurely. Don't know whether or not this has anything to do with it, but her second clutch, which began to hatch out only yesterday, are almost twice the size when they breached the eggs, the last one weighing in at 13 grams! I believe that's the largest egg she ever laid!

Thanx again!!
 
I only have this picture of him when I first got him since I dont really take him out besides to feed and he is always exploring around and its hard to get no lens flare from the glass I can try again later when he comes out if he does today.
https://imgur.com/cl69FSX

That's the size deli cup I use is in your pic. If you still have it then I would use it. Hatchling shipping containers are the perfect size and they already have air holes.

Given its been a month your snake has gone through its first shed cycle. Not sure if you ever found a shed but if not then a current pic would be helpful just to make sure it doesn't have a stuck shed.
 
. . . . I did contact them and they only gave me vague responses like "we feed on wednesdays" and they "claim they fed it" and they said that they feed xs pinkies (thawed) in delie cups at night (which I just tried to the success)

SHAME ON THEM!!! I would make a formal complaint to the manager or someone so they don't do sh** like that again! No one, ESPECIALLY a successfully operating pet store, should sell a hatchling that hasn't been fed at LEAST 3 times. As an individual, not a professional by any stretch of the imagination, I will NOT let one of my hatchlings go to another home until it has eaten a minimum of 3 times and to this day haven't actually sold or given any of my babies to anyone until they've eaten a minimum of 5 times!!

Just sayin'.
 
Thanks everyone for picking up on this. I dropped off due to getting a phone call for an employment offer and then had to go run errands. Unfortunately I've been away all day for orientation.

smale492....for a dated photo, little one seems to have pretty good weight, but that was also within the first 2 weeks of hatching. Activity is good, that can show drive and desire of hunting. BUT, do keep in mind it can also show signs of insecurity which can cause problematic feeding in a non-established snake. Something you might also think of doing is next time at the grocery store, if they offer paper bags at check out, get a couple and use those to block off the 2 sides and back of the cage. This should help in letting the snake "feel" confined but in a secure manner.

All these little tips and tricks can help. Don't get disheartened by this, it can be a drawn out process and even frustrating for the most seasoned of breeders/keepers. I've been there myself, having jumped back into corn snakes full steam ahead since 2013.

Keep us posted, for better or worse. This community's been awesome, you never know what might come out of your efforts, even if they end up for naught.
 
Thanks everyone for picking up on this. I dropped off due to getting a phone call for an employment offer and then had to go run errands. Unfortunately I've been away all day for orientation.

smale492....for a dated photo, little one seems to have pretty good weight, but that was also within the first 2 weeks of hatching. Activity is good, that can show drive and desire of hunting. BUT, do keep in mind it can also show signs of insecurity which can cause problematic feeding in a non-established snake. Something you might also think of doing is next time at the grocery store, if they offer paper bags at check out, get a couple and use those to block off the 2 sides and back of the cage. This should help in letting the snake "feel" confined but in a secure manner.

All these little tips and tricks can help. Don't get disheartened by this, it can be a drawn out process and even frustrating for the most seasoned of breeders/keepers. I've been there myself, having jumped back into corn snakes full steam ahead since 2013.

Keep us posted, for better or worse. This community's been awesome, you never know what might come out of your efforts, even if they end up for naught.

I was thinking about possibly getting decorative vines/ leaves to make it seem a little more full and give more hiding places. Probs will do this once I get up to school. Do you still think I should wait all the way untill next saturday try and feed or maybe sooner?
 
Does it have to be all the way till next Saturday? Are you around at anytime during the week?
 
Does it have to be all the way till next Saturday? Are you around at anytime during the week?

Yeah Im around everyday next week its just Im moving monday and Im sure thats gonna stress him out. I was told to wait a week with no handling since I last tried (wednesday) should I just try wednesday or maybe give him another day to settle after the move (tommorw)
 
Yeah Im around everyday next week its just Im moving monday and Im sure thats gonna stress him out. I was told to wait a week with no handling since I last tried (wednesday) should just try wednesday or maybe give him another day to settle after the move (tommorw)

If Tuesday is a quiet day for him, better to try on Wednesday. It just gives you a leg up on the situation, one where you can use all the help you can get! Just be as gentle as possible with him and give it a try. You'd be surprised how perceptive this small, tiny worm-of-an-animal can be! Since it IS in a constant state of anxiety and a literal ball of nerves at this age, it can EASILY detect stress in its caretaker whom it will more likely see as a GIANT, THREATENING ENTITY that MAY cause HARM to it. The more nervous you are, the more likely it will see you as something it can't TRUST. And trust is the one quality you will need to be able for that little sneaky one to actually allow you to take care of it and by which you will form a strong relationship. Without patience, the bond will be weak and the relationship tenuous. I hope this makes sense. If not, please let me know.

While I love to joke and have fun, this component of caring for cornsnakes is one that I take very seriously.
 
If Tuesday is a quiet day for him, better to try on Wednesday. It just gives you a leg up on the situation, one where you can use all the help you can get! Just be as gentle as possible with him and give it a try. You'd be surprised how perceptive this small, tiny worm-of-an-animal can be! Since it IS in a constant state of anxiety and a literal ball of nerves at this age, it can EASILY detect stress in its caretaker whom it will more likely see as a GIANT, THREATENING ENTITY that MAY cause HARM to it. The more nervous you are, the more likely it will see you as something it can't TRUST. And trust is the one quality you will need to be able for that little sneaky one to actually allow you to take care of it and by which you will form a strong relationship. Without patience, the bond will be weak and the relationship tenuous. I hope this makes sense. If not, please let me know.

While I love to joke and have fun, this component of caring for cornsnakes is one that I take very seriously.

Sounds good, I am just worried about finding the deli cup at my local groccery store.
 
You can always buy a tiny tub of margarine and use that cup after emptying it. Or a tiny ice cream container. With tiny holes.
 
So saddly I tried feeding him thursday due to letting him settle from moving monday... and he still did not eat. I left him in the tub with the pinky and checked every 20 minutes and then left him there over night to no avail. Im wondering if maybe even an extra small pinky is too big for him and maybe I should just try a head. Also maybe taking him out of the tank and putting him in a small container is freaking him out to the point of not wanting to eat. I was probs gonna try and feed him again tomorrow and wanted suggestions on what to do next (dawn method maybe)? And what kind of dawn and should I try maybe feed him in the tank.
 
Back
Top